He was a bit banal looking when we first see him. A bit more clownish, he even suggests he is a Joker with a pack of playing cards once. Maybe they should have kept him more or less a faceless essence in the background up until the last episode or two. We wouldn't have had a chance to see him in mundane circumstances that lessened the effect of his evil.
I’m not sure what role pharmekeia plays in Twin Peaks. But there is an interesting emphasis on caffeine, nicotine and cocaine. I suspected (before the third season), that these substances were used to keep evil at bay. Consider the chain smoking of Laura Palmer’s mother, Coop’s coffee consumption and Laura’s cocaine habit. Combine that with the joys of donut- and pie-eating and those positive aspects of these drugs and foods may keep away the garbongozia the demons fed upon.
It's quick, but nobody ever seems to mention (likely just forgotten in the wake of TP3) but in the video where he's trying to reason with his superiors, he's clearly smoking like a champ. He's clearly nervous speaking to them about it, even clearing throat before saying the words "black lodge" because he thinks they don't fully believe him or he's taken it too far and already knows with his intellect they're going to pull him from the project. At first, long long ago, watching it the very night it came out with watch parties we'd have, and multiple times throughout the years, I never thought much about it until Sea 3 and Sarah P. Then the smoking kind of stood out. Could have been a clue, or could be nothing at all. Never thought about what you said as you put it, but it's not a bad idea. After all, in FFWM Chet's partner points out: "Nicotine is a drug. Caffeine is a drug" where she says "but those are legal toe head" or something like that. When put together, maybe caffeine is a way of "saving" people or else is an indicator that they're "ok". Mr. C sure didn't want any coffee in new Trumans office. "No, thanks." but on other hand.. he didn't smoke either. One ate cherry pie, the other ate canned creamed corn. It's a fact everyone knows that certain foods or legal drugs can have incredible effects on human brains. It changes the way we feel. Chocolate, sugar, tea, coffee, are just some out of thousands of _natural_ examples. Modern ciggerettes though are produced with chemicals, it's not the same as native americans once used; they're _more_ addictive now on purpose for lifetime customers. But the show also emphasizes food being brought by nurturing women (the double R) and are always saying everything else foodwise is "hospital food, you don't want to eat that" which can also be taken to mean cheap disgusting microwave dinners - how hospital food used to be before cleaning up that reputation with decent cafeterias now. So there was love behind the cherry pie. It was a way I think of Lynch saying that anyone really enjoying it, is someone who just in general really enjoys life too. Marion was a pie eating machine (when she could have just as easily made her own at home), putting herself into debt from eating and tipping too much all the time. Overall, Marion was an innocent soul especially working around little kids, helping them learn about the world in the form of a real white knight or "protector". Richard ruined that by putting her into a coma. Sorry so long but even after 7yrs or longer, this show is still the best I've ever seen or come across and holds it's value pretty well. Windom is still one of the creepiest villains I've ever seen, same with Bob. Windom was creepier to me in ways. He had secret knowledge as a human that others didn't possess. Bob was an entity from another place, so we knew he had "other knowledge" but just how and when did Windom learn what he did? That would have been an incredible back story to explore but nope. Windom was killed in a very neat way imo, Bob shut his volume off, in complete utter control, even though he never stopped screaming to speak with Dale. He controlled Windom like a puppet on strings. Questions come to mind like.. why didn't Windom know or guess he could be putting his own soul at risk by taking coopers? Surely he would have heard or read something about the dangers involved but still did it anyway. Maybe that was a part of his madness. Coop wasn't even a white knight at all in sea2, something nobody brings up either. He fell in love with his best friends wife. Isn't that the same thing Hastings was tortured for with the demons holding him down and taunting "Where's your wife? Where's your wife?" So what coop did was the ultimate betrayal. He betrayed the woman he was supposed to protect, he betrayed Windom, his own partner by obviously lots of lies and sneaking around to protect their affair, and that's something the white lodge or it's occupants likely aren't very fond of. That's why I always thought evil Coop left the lodge. The "good" coop was trapped because he was a piece of sh&* in some ways. He was not the "pure" Dale Coop we met in Season 1. Closest we ever got back to that dale was with duggie.
This was the one character that started to make season two interesting again after the reveal of the killer it took a few episodes but then this guy coming in and like I already said, made it interesting and worth watching again but is put in his place in the last episode of season two.
The writers were all over the place with Agent Earle, but Kenneth Welsh did a great job with the material he had. I'm not a fan of the theory that he was possessed, but it's as possible of course. My view is that he was actually evil on his own, but the black lodge was taking a hold of him. There were some intimidating and memorable scenes. Also lots of silly ones. The great thing about Twin Peaks is that we don't know everything. Bob's scariest part was the wasn't over-exposed like Earle was. They should have kept Earle more obscure. I've seen the show at least 5 times and Bob still makes me feel uneasy. Used to scare the living crap out of me too.
The Bible says that we, humans, do not fight against people, flesh and blood, but against the rules and principalities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. If you want to become a wise and knowledgeable and understandable, and compassionate, READ THE BIBLE, and become all these things. Unless, you want to stay evil and ignorant, then don't.
I fully agree: Earle was evil on his own, at the very latest ever since when he cracked and went insane, which musta happened sometime between 1965-1969, but his insanity made him useable by the Black Lodge. As Michael said in the video, it's such irony that such a mad genius of crime who likes using other people for his schemes ultimately became a tool himself.
I don't think Kenneth Welsh did a good or even decent job at all with Windom Earle. Sure his material was written poorly, but I've seen amazing actors turn a terribly written character into a GREAT character. He did not ever come close to even doin "okay." Earle was absolutely insufferably ANNOYING. Not intimidating, scary, or creepy, just annoying. I'm glad that when David Lynch came back for the finale that he A - Silenced Windom Earle by not giving him many lines to speak. And B - Killing off the character and handing the reigns back over to BOB which should've stayed the main villain the whole time front-and-center. Also, I'm VERY satisfied that he was ignored for Twin Peaks The Return outside of a few visual and audio easter eggs, but is never even mentioned. Good riddance. However for people who ARE fans of his character, there's Mark Frost's book "The Final Dossier" which evidently does mention him.
Many choices made in season 2 were boring but Windom Earle was a great addition. Very underrated character. Along with Cooper, Albert, Leland, Audrey and Pete, Windom is a favorite of mine. I am a bit disappointed that Lynch dismissed Earle so categorically
We don't know that he dismisses him completely. His soul may be one of (or the only) occupier of "dopplecooper" in Twin Peaks: The Return. There are some pretty strong hints of this thus far.
DarkeningSkies1 the bonsai tree in the room with the glass box made me think of him right away. It definitely seems like he still has a presence lingering about, I agree.
I always thought Earle foregone his chess game because it was no more than a decoy to lure Cooper away from his true intentions of mastering the Black Lodge.
Yeah! If i remember correctly, he abandoned the chess game right after Cooper realised Earle was after the Black Lodge. The chess game's purpose was to keep Coop's mind busy, and to stop him from figuring out his true intentions; I think that's why he got so upset when he found out somebody was helping him: it gave Coop the headspace to think about Earle's intentions.
I've really enjoyed your character breakdowns on the Twin Peaks characters. I read an AMA with Mark Frost on Reddit recently, and he said that Leo/Earle's relationship was based on Samuel Beckett's 'Endgame', which also involves a heavy amount of chess playing too. :)
I don't know, I thought his character was pretty underrated, and like many other characters, it was too bad that Lynch didn't see fit to use him somehow in the Return season.
I would agree his character was the best inclusion of the second half of season 2 but that isn't saying a lot. The show was already going downhill and then once the twist happened, the rest of the plotlines just felt dull and silly. I think Windom served his purpose well enough as the primary antagonist post Laura's murder being solved, but he still felt cheesy and flat. His demise is still one of my favorite moments in the show. To see him acting like this egomaniacal puppet master who tortured and murdered others for his own sick pleasure, only to see his soul obliterated and he be left an empty husk of a person was satisfying to watch.
@@chrisdrugs249 With all his knowledge about the lodges, it never made sense to me how he couldn't have known Rule Number 1. You can't take or keep other humans souls if _you're_ human. At times Windom _didn't_ look human at all, more like a goblin with glowing eyes which always led me thinking that maybe his own doppleganger from the lodge was the one running his show most of the time. Why it, or the dugpas, or other magicians he'd visited before didn't inform him of Rule Number 1 I guess was to have a plot and ending that was satisfying as you said. It was great seeing coop "unstabbed" and hear Earl scream backwards, to be literally muted by Bob (if you look the whole time he's screaming but Bob muted him just like a tv remote) then have his own soul ripped out. It's still one of my favorite scenes. The reason why he didn't know that would happen is probably because those answers I want to know - just aren't there - and imagination is infinitely better than being force fed lame exposition about what it is like we're babies without a brain to figure anything out on our own. To me, the dugpas or magicians he spoke with, they deliberately tricked him by not telling him anything about Rule 1. That seems like something an evil magician would do. They gave direct misinformation (sharing what people call magic or the how to's is often forbidden, especially to outsiders like Windom - could he alone really convince the dugpas to share secrets with a crazy white guy from usa? - and secrecy is huge, but it's even more powerful if everyone can _see_ it or it's right out in the open without anyone realizing it - and there's lots of real life examples for that, for one, the stock market bull, another, the thing called Bhahomet on full display with children included in these ancient symbols, that's pretty creepy and it doesn't matter if you're religious or not, if you're spiritual, it's terrifying to know people really enjoy them) or else the Dugpas genuinely didn't know Rule 1, maybe having never exited the lodges at _all_ except through dreams, where they only gave Earl some half truths so it sounded close enough for him to think he came out on top - and go away, to leave them alone - but obviously he didn't get the correct intel. Had he known there was even a chance of it happening, I don't think he would have done what he did at all. He would have found a different way to capture or torture coop once inside. Taking his soul in there though, to be a "spirit slave" for eternity - that's my guess for _taking_ a soul, I mean, what else would you do with it except endless meaningless torture and agony every moment, forever, which I think for Windom would get boring after a while. Getting flesh ripped off bones daily to regrow during a sleepless night for the next day, for all time - even _that_ would get boring. He didn't care about Coop once he gained access or he shouldn't have, coop was already defeated by his shadow self entering the lodge with fear, why his doppleganger emerged. Windom cared about being able to "reorder the earth itself to his liking"; he wanted to be God of this plane of existence. Now.. human vs human souls in another realm where *_we're_* unnatural, it instantly caught Bobs attention like he was watching from a security camera so he was there in mere seconds to reverse time, stop what happened, and also briefly explain to coop why he's still alive. And also why he's about to change too. That's why he's backwards laughing as he tells Coop to leave. Bob already knows he's not going anywhere. Trap was set and good coop was gone forever. The cooper at the end of season 3 who says "what year is this?" isn't our beloved original Dale. He's a combo of all 3. Original Dale, Duggie, and Mr. C. The Dale we knew would have said "this is a damn fine cup of joe!" at Judy's but didn't. He drank it without any sense of enjoyment, more like going through daily motions without fanfare like a chore, or, without "taking time to enjoy something in life, whatever it may be, for just that moment" as he put it to first Truman. Putting the guns into the oil vat with "I don't know how hot oil has to be if any to make these go off.." putting the waitress and cooks life in danger so the guys can't grab their weapons for a good while wasn't our Dale Cooper either. That wasn't something og Dale would do, ever. Same with basically kidnapping new Laura Palmer without even questioning the dead guy in the chair or anything else. Just a long quiet drive. He didn't give one sh&* or even act surprised with the dead guy. Same with sacrificing her by taking her to the Palmer house. It was all selfish. Like Mr. C's motives always were. So in the very very end, Windom did beat Dale except being bobs spirit slave until the end of time. Bob wasn't killed in sea 3. He was just fragmented into more pieces (to spread out more) and went up into the air. That doesn't count as "dying" to me.
The only reason why Earle was stalking the TP girls was because he wanted revenge on Coop, as he could tell Coop was romantically involved with one of them, and he knew they were indirect communication channels to Coop. Finally, he knew he needed an afraid person as a token to open the gate to the Black Lodge, so he picked Annie, as part of his revenge on Coop. Of course, this is not to say Earle doesn't get a perverse thrill out of dressing up and tricking people for its own sake. His entire body language whenever he's in a disguise always cracks me up for some reason in how much he's enjoying himself and his superiority. XD Also, it's obvious you didn't read, "Dale B. Cooper: My Life, My Tapes". Most of what Coop knows about the mystical and the paranormal is self-taught on a 5-year journey all around the world between his high school graduation and when he joined the CIA. After a few years, Coop got bored at the CIA and transferred to the FBI instead, where he ended up with the Blue Rose group under Gordon Cole. So, Coop had been active in secret services, law enforcement, and mysticism for quite some time before ever meeting Earle.
not sure what your problem was with Earle,he was a great character.he worked on blue book and was after the secrets of the lodge for his own gain.the idea that hes right under dales nose and yet hidden and that he toys with the unsuspecting people of twin peaks is great.
Windon Earle is a character based on Aleister Crowley, the infamous occultist, which was a brilliant chess player, had strong sociopathic and sadistic traits, and which was involved in a power struggle during his time at the Hermetic lodge of Golden Down, a group which he eventually gained control over. He was also an agent for the British government. He also had his scarlet women.
@@enterbalak Wasn't he in the movie Rosemary's Baby? I wouldn't say he's a genius looking at all he did and said, but the guy did know a thing or two about magic and also getting people to blindly follow him through drugs just like Charles Manson did. They used lds in huge amounts at their parties or magic orgies (sex to them is considered a form of magic, it's what made Judy appear in the box when Sam and the pretty girl were getting it on) so more often than not, regular people whose egos were destroyed in the process of abusing psychedelics (vs using them) became the next group of "followers". Especially if you have a "handler" during your trip to fully brainwash you vs letting you just enjoy the experience and come back down to your "normal self". He made sure when you came down that you were ANYTHING but your former self. Some never recovered from the CIA inspired brainwashing. Genius? No. Conman? Yes. 100 percent. What megalomaniac _doesn't_ want to be a leader of sheeple willing to do anything you say? A genius only in the way of deception. I'll give you that much.
I must say that this as been a very thoughtful and well expressed character analysis...And also had the same thoughts as you regarding trying to create other characters who could surpass them of the Black Lodge.Once youve created that kind of mythology you cant top it you can only go backwards.Anyway well done and looking forward to more of your character Breakdowns!
I disagree with the idea of my man Earl being a man of unremarkable physique and having goofy disguises. The disguises highlight his lunacy as they are humorous to the audience, but it shows Earl’s humour as he is pushing the limit of the disguises. The show can obviously do better as seen with Catherine’s disguise. Earl’s disguises can be seen as a way to mock those around him as they are obvious to those who know the context. We see this when Earl leaves an elevator Cooper was in as he snickers to himself. This can be seen as “oh I knew my stupid disguise would fool Cooper hehe.” It also showcases his intellect as he would need a lot of confidence to use these disguises which could ruin his plan of going to the Black Lodge.
I like how you picked the one scary image of Windom Earle -- the white makeup with black lips that implies he might be possessed, to accompany your point about how he's not very threatening.
I think Windom Earle's intention was to lure Garland Briggs to the black lodge to take possession of Briggs' abilities. He hoped and probably did not think Cooper would get there.
I don't know about that. He had Briggs captive, even after he figured out the lodge's location. He could've just taken Briggs there if he wanted but it's obvious he had a vendetta against Cooper and wanted him there. He wouldn't have gone through the trouble of kidnapping Annie if he didn't want Cooper to pursue him.
@@chrisdrugs249 But he needed to go there at the right point of time and he needed Annies fear to open the gate. So he could not just take Briggs there at any point of time. Besides, when Annie says "he will come for me" I think Earle was honest when he replied "No, he wont".
@@Modeeus Hmm interesting but you have to remember that at the time he kidnapped Annie, he didn't know Cooper would know the location of the lodge, hence why he told her "No he won't." It wasn't until Andy figured out the map and told Cooper that he was able to pursue. It's true he needed her fear to open the lodge but I don't see what he was hoping to gain from Briggs other than the information he extracted from him. I don't know what abilities you are referring to. Briggs just seemed like someone with a lot of knowledge and wisdom, maybe even foresight but not any abilities I can think of, unless I missed something.
@@chrisdrugs249 You should read the books: "The Secret History of Twin Peaks" and "Twin Peaks: The Final Dossier". Major Briggs is a strong psychic, but it never turned him evil or insane like Windom Earle. It's just that he can sense or receive things others cannot. It's why Major Briggs was part of Project Blue Book (for which he received an intense training by the military in order to optimize his psychic abilities) and is continuing research for the military at his outpost on top of one of the two Twin Peaks mountains.
Earle is not like Bob, he's more like a puppet villain. What makes Earle creepy is his twisted mind, intelect and goal. I didn't really like the character at first but he grew on me over time.
I was always intrigued by the idea of someone stealing or using the power of the lodge for their own purposes. Maybe someone else is going to do that in the new series.
Michael Snow No what I'm saying is I think that's who Mr C was speaking with in the hotel after he killed Darya. I also think he's behind the NYC Project.
I didn't like Earle at first. just didn't find him convincing. but at a certain point (probably around the time he dressed up like a horse to kidnap briggs), I came to appreciate just how camp and hammy he is. he's sort of Shakespearean. pretty clumsily brought in to the show, tho. not a fan of the second half of season 2 overall, but they definitely stuck the landing with the last episode or two
Well, Windom Earle despite his genius is still insane. The Spirits of the Black Lodge are Evil, not mad, not twisted, just evil for the sake of evil, like Windom says. I don't think they would appreciate such a man daring to lay claim to their power, not to mention they take pleasure in destroying people's mind, and there's no challenge in corrupting Windom, whose sanity is already compromised.
I first watched Twin Peaks when it came out. Now for the shock part: I was just 5 years old at the time. Thanks, mom 😂 At that age I did not understand very much what I was seeing, but 2 images stuck with me and provided numerous nightmares for the following couple of years: Maddie's vision of Bob coming over the couch at Donna's house and Windom Earle's image with black teeth hovering over Leo. Badalamenti's amazing score added to that effect. I have watched the show countless times in my adult years and it is a masterpiece. From Pete's fish in the perculator, to Andy's funny crying, to Albert's love for sheriff Truman, to Nadine's silent drapes. From Major Briggs's vision about Bobby, to Leland's singing and from Audrey's dance to Leo's sick and abusing love for Shelly. I love everything about this show. Both Windom Earle and Bob terrified me for different reasons and in different ways. One is the evil psyhotic genius, the other a demonic entity bend on violence and terror. I am one of those who loves the show as a whole and loved the Windom Earle storyline. Both Bob and Earle terrify me because in the end they both represent what Albert said: "The evil that men do".
@@marc80s Still, you can see a lot of it in the TV series and FWWM. Considering his direction style (how he instructs his actors), his quote on how he's "not always in sync" basically means something akin to, "I don't care how those scripts come about or what they mean, I'm just here to make the plot from the script look pretty and interesting. I don't care what it's supposed to mean or stand for."
Sorry to spoil Everything, but Earl is the precursor to mister c, I understand everything about Twin Peaks, and I will gladly explain it to everyone just ask
I think the second half of the second season was supposed to be campy, over the top and hylarious, that’s why they probably chose that actor to portray Windom Earle.
I always thought someone like David Warner or Michael Parks (both a little wasted on the show) would have been good as Earle. No disrespect to Kenneth Welsh, I like him as an actor and have enjoyed his performances in many films, but after the build up I would have expected someone with a bit more screen presence. Welsh would have been better in something like the Eckhardt role.
Bob is a boy scout compared to Mr C imo. And Earle, as formidable as he was, is a wannabe Bob. The real Cooper has Dougie as his co-pilot. But Mr C is almost as evil as Judy.
I think Windom Earle is one of the greatest human villains (in contrast to BOB, the more primeval, non-human evil force) in movie and TV history. I think he really didn't get the run he deserved by only showing up in a few TP episodes. Even the creators of the show thought that before Lynch's return, Earle originated as part of the filler episodes while Lynch had temporarily stepped away from the show (before wrapping it up towards the end of season 2), and they still regret never having given him lines as great as the character itself was, and not enough of an epic narrative arc. Of course, he was brilliantly cast with Welsh, who was perfect as this mix of threatening, creepy, scary, *AND* demented. He and the writers made Earle both a scary villain and with some hilariously demented, campish kinks to him. While I'd always compared him to Sherlock Holmes's nemesis Moriarty, my GF rightfully said he's almost like a Batman villain from the Adam West show. Welsh is dead, unfortunately, but if they'll ever bring back Windom Earle for anything like a prequel (like, a dramatization of Coop's early time in the Blue Rose group as in the book "Dale B.Cooper: My Life, My Tapes") or any other spin-off of the franchise, I feel he should be portrayed by Jason Clarke.
Pretty funny how Earle is portrayed as this mastermind for a string of episodes and then just gets smoked by Bob.
Showing that BOB is an ancient demon, whereas Earle is merely a human.
Earle is a genius corruption by his quest for knowledge and control, BOB is a primordial being of pure evil. He was out of his depth against him.
Reminds me of what Dr Manhattan said to Ozymendias.
He is BOB, eager for fun. He wears a smile, everybody run
BOB has the power of his own momentum.
Window Earl was far more scarier when people couldn't place a face to the character
He was a bit banal looking when we first see him. A bit more clownish, he even suggests he is a Joker with a pack of playing cards once. Maybe they should have kept him more or less a faceless essence in the background up until the last episode or two. We wouldn't have had a chance to see him in mundane circumstances that lessened the effect of his evil.
I’m not sure what role pharmekeia plays in Twin Peaks. But there is an interesting emphasis on caffeine, nicotine and cocaine. I suspected (before the third season), that these substances were used to keep evil at bay. Consider the chain smoking of Laura Palmer’s mother, Coop’s coffee consumption and Laura’s cocaine habit. Combine that with the joys of donut- and pie-eating and those positive aspects of these drugs and foods may keep away the garbongozia the demons fed upon.
Ambrosia
It's quick, but nobody ever seems to mention (likely just forgotten in the wake of TP3) but in the video where he's trying to reason with his superiors, he's clearly smoking like a champ. He's clearly nervous speaking to them about it, even clearing throat before saying the words "black lodge" because he thinks they don't fully believe him or he's taken it too far and already knows with his intellect they're going to pull him from the project.
At first, long long ago, watching it the very night it came out with watch parties we'd have, and multiple times throughout the years, I never thought much about it until Sea 3 and Sarah P. Then the smoking kind of stood out. Could have been a clue, or could be nothing at all.
Never thought about what you said as you put it, but it's not a bad idea. After all, in FFWM Chet's partner points out: "Nicotine is a drug. Caffeine is a drug" where she says "but those are legal toe head" or something like that. When put together, maybe caffeine is a way of "saving" people or else is an indicator that they're "ok". Mr. C sure didn't want any coffee in new Trumans office. "No, thanks." but on other hand.. he didn't smoke either. One ate cherry pie, the other ate canned creamed corn. It's a fact everyone knows that certain foods or legal drugs can have incredible effects on human brains. It changes the way we feel.
Chocolate, sugar, tea, coffee, are just some out of thousands of _natural_ examples. Modern ciggerettes though are produced with chemicals, it's not the same as native americans once used; they're _more_ addictive now on purpose for lifetime customers. But the show also emphasizes food being brought by nurturing women (the double R) and are always saying everything else foodwise is "hospital food, you don't want to eat that" which can also be taken to mean cheap disgusting microwave dinners - how hospital food used to be before cleaning up that reputation with decent cafeterias now. So there was love behind the cherry pie. It was a way I think of Lynch saying that anyone really enjoying it, is someone who just in general really enjoys life too. Marion was a pie eating machine (when she could have just as easily made her own at home), putting herself into debt from eating and tipping too much all the time. Overall, Marion was an innocent soul especially working around little kids, helping them learn about the world in the form of a real white knight or "protector". Richard ruined that by putting her into a coma.
Sorry so long but even after 7yrs or longer, this show is still the best I've ever seen or come across and holds it's value pretty well. Windom is still one of the creepiest villains I've ever seen, same with Bob. Windom was creepier to me in ways. He had secret knowledge as a human that others didn't possess. Bob was an entity from another place, so we knew he had "other knowledge" but just how and when did Windom learn what he did? That would have been an incredible back story to explore but nope. Windom was killed in a very neat way imo, Bob shut his volume off, in complete utter control, even though he never stopped screaming to speak with Dale. He controlled Windom like a puppet on strings. Questions come to mind like.. why didn't Windom know or guess he could be putting his own soul at risk by taking coopers? Surely he would have heard or read something about the dangers involved but still did it anyway. Maybe that was a part of his madness.
Coop wasn't even a white knight at all in sea2, something nobody brings up either. He fell in love with his best friends wife. Isn't that the same thing Hastings was tortured for with the demons holding him down and taunting "Where's your wife? Where's your wife?" So what coop did was the ultimate betrayal. He betrayed the woman he was supposed to protect, he betrayed Windom, his own partner by obviously lots of lies and sneaking around to protect their affair, and that's something the white lodge or it's occupants likely aren't very fond of. That's why I always thought evil Coop left the lodge. The "good" coop was trapped because he was a piece of sh&* in some ways. He was not the "pure" Dale Coop we met in Season 1. Closest we ever got back to that dale was with duggie.
This was the one character that started to make season two interesting again after the reveal of the killer it took a few episodes but then this guy coming in and like I already said, made it interesting and worth watching again but is put in his place in the last episode of season two.
The writers were all over the place with Agent Earle, but Kenneth Welsh did a great job with the material he had. I'm not a fan of the theory that he was possessed, but it's as possible of course. My view is that he was actually evil on his own, but the black lodge was taking a hold of him. There were some intimidating and memorable scenes. Also lots of silly ones. The great thing about Twin Peaks is that we don't know everything. Bob's scariest part was the wasn't over-exposed like Earle was. They should have kept Earle more obscure. I've seen the show at least 5 times and Bob still makes me feel uneasy. Used to scare the living crap out of me too.
The Bible says that we, humans, do not fight against people, flesh and blood, but against the rules and principalities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. If you want to become a wise and knowledgeable and understandable, and compassionate, READ THE BIBLE, and become all these things. Unless, you want to stay evil and ignorant, then don't.
I fully agree: Earle was evil on his own, at the very latest ever since when he cracked and went insane, which musta happened sometime between 1965-1969, but his insanity made him useable by the Black Lodge. As Michael said in the video, it's such irony that such a mad genius of crime who likes using other people for his schemes ultimately became a tool himself.
I don't think Kenneth Welsh did a good or even decent job at all with Windom Earle. Sure his material was written poorly, but I've seen amazing actors turn a terribly written character into a GREAT character. He did not ever come close to even doin "okay." Earle was absolutely insufferably ANNOYING. Not intimidating, scary, or creepy, just annoying. I'm glad that when David Lynch came back for the finale that he A - Silenced Windom Earle by not giving him many lines to speak. And B - Killing off the character and handing the reigns back over to BOB which should've stayed the main villain the whole time front-and-center. Also, I'm VERY satisfied that he was ignored for Twin Peaks The Return outside of a few visual and audio easter eggs, but is never even mentioned. Good riddance. However for people who ARE fans of his character, there's Mark Frost's book "The Final Dossier" which evidently does mention him.
Many choices made in season 2 were boring but Windom Earle was a great addition. Very underrated character. Along with Cooper, Albert, Leland, Audrey and Pete, Windom is a favorite of mine. I am a bit disappointed that Lynch dismissed Earle so categorically
We don't know that he dismisses him completely. His soul may be one of (or the only) occupier of "dopplecooper" in Twin Peaks: The Return. There are some pretty strong hints of this thus far.
Darkeni
DarkeningSkies1 the bonsai tree in the room with the glass box made me think of him right away. It definitely seems like he still has a presence lingering about, I agree.
I think Earle's relationship with Leo was suppose to be a nightmare version of that scene in Frankenstein when the Monster visits the Blind monk.
I always thought Earle foregone his chess game because it was no more than a decoy to lure Cooper away from his true intentions of mastering the Black Lodge.
Yeah! If i remember correctly, he abandoned the chess game right after Cooper realised Earle was after the Black Lodge. The chess game's purpose was to keep Coop's mind busy, and to stop him from figuring out his true intentions; I think that's why he got so upset when he found out somebody was helping him: it gave Coop the headspace to think about Earle's intentions.
Also, I just realised I've responded to a 3 y/o comment on CZcams. Oh well.
@@andreibratosin I'm here, watching from the Black Lodge ^^
@@andreibratosin I just responded to a 7yr old comment. Being from the future, we don't care anymore about how old posts are.
I loved Windom Earle
Its all about the black lodge
I've really enjoyed your character breakdowns on the Twin Peaks characters. I read an AMA with Mark Frost on Reddit recently, and he said that Leo/Earle's relationship was based on Samuel Beckett's 'Endgame', which also involves a heavy amount of chess playing too. :)
Thanks! I went and read the AMA it was really interesting.
I don't know, I thought his character was pretty underrated, and like many other characters, it was too bad that Lynch didn't see fit to use him somehow in the Return season.
I would agree his character was the best inclusion of the second half of season 2 but that isn't saying a lot. The show was already going downhill and then once the twist happened, the rest of the plotlines just felt dull and silly.
I think Windom served his purpose well enough as the primary antagonist post Laura's murder being solved, but he still felt cheesy and flat.
His demise is still one of my favorite moments in the show. To see him acting like this egomaniacal puppet master who tortured and murdered others for his own sick pleasure, only to see his soul obliterated and he be left an empty husk of a person was satisfying to watch.
@@chrisdrugs249 With all his knowledge about the lodges, it never made sense to me how he couldn't have known Rule Number 1. You can't take or keep other humans souls if _you're_ human. At times Windom _didn't_ look human at all, more like a goblin with glowing eyes which always led me thinking that maybe his own doppleganger from the lodge was the one running his show most of the time. Why it, or the dugpas, or other magicians he'd visited before didn't inform him of Rule Number 1 I guess was to have a plot and ending that was satisfying as you said. It was great seeing coop "unstabbed" and hear Earl scream backwards, to be literally muted by Bob (if you look the whole time he's screaming but Bob muted him just like a tv remote) then have his own soul ripped out.
It's still one of my favorite scenes. The reason why he didn't know that would happen is probably because those answers I want to know - just aren't there - and imagination is infinitely better than being force fed lame exposition about what it is like we're babies without a brain to figure anything out on our own. To me, the dugpas or magicians he spoke with, they deliberately tricked him by not telling him anything about Rule 1. That seems like something an evil magician would do.
They gave direct misinformation (sharing what people call magic or the how to's is often forbidden, especially to outsiders like Windom - could he alone really convince the dugpas to share secrets with a crazy white guy from usa? - and secrecy is huge, but it's even more powerful if everyone can _see_ it or it's right out in the open without anyone realizing it - and there's lots of real life examples for that, for one, the stock market bull, another, the thing called Bhahomet on full display with children included in these ancient symbols, that's pretty creepy and it doesn't matter if you're religious or not, if you're spiritual, it's terrifying to know people really enjoy them) or else the Dugpas genuinely didn't know Rule 1, maybe having never exited the lodges at _all_ except through dreams, where they only gave Earl some half truths so it sounded close enough for him to think he came out on top - and go away, to leave them alone - but obviously he didn't get the correct intel. Had he known there was even a chance of it happening, I don't think he would have done what he did at all. He would have found a different way to capture or torture coop once inside.
Taking his soul in there though, to be a "spirit slave" for eternity - that's my guess for _taking_ a soul, I mean, what else would you do with it except endless meaningless torture and agony every moment, forever, which I think for Windom would get boring after a while. Getting flesh ripped off bones daily to regrow during a sleepless night for the next day, for all time - even _that_ would get boring. He didn't care about Coop once he gained access or he shouldn't have, coop was already defeated by his shadow self entering the lodge with fear, why his doppleganger emerged. Windom cared about being able to "reorder the earth itself to his liking"; he wanted to be God of this plane of existence. Now.. human vs human souls in another realm where *_we're_* unnatural, it instantly caught Bobs attention like he was watching from a security camera so he was there in mere seconds to reverse time, stop what happened, and also briefly explain to coop why he's still alive. And also why he's about to change too. That's why he's backwards laughing as he tells Coop to leave. Bob already knows he's not going anywhere. Trap was set and good coop was gone forever.
The cooper at the end of season 3 who says "what year is this?" isn't our beloved original Dale. He's a combo of all 3. Original Dale, Duggie, and Mr. C. The Dale we knew would have said "this is a damn fine cup of joe!" at Judy's but didn't. He drank it without any sense of enjoyment, more like going through daily motions without fanfare like a chore, or, without "taking time to enjoy something in life, whatever it may be, for just that moment" as he put it to first Truman. Putting the guns into the oil vat with "I don't know how hot oil has to be if any to make these go off.." putting the waitress and cooks life in danger so the guys can't grab their weapons for a good while wasn't our Dale Cooper either. That wasn't something og Dale would do, ever. Same with basically kidnapping new Laura Palmer without even questioning the dead guy in the chair or anything else. Just a long quiet drive. He didn't give one sh&* or even act surprised with the dead guy. Same with sacrificing her by taking her to the Palmer house. It was all selfish. Like Mr. C's motives always were. So in the very very end, Windom did beat Dale except being bobs spirit slave until the end of time. Bob wasn't killed in sea 3. He was just fragmented into more pieces (to spread out more) and went up into the air. That doesn't count as "dying" to me.
The only reason why Earle was stalking the TP girls was because he wanted revenge on Coop, as he could tell Coop was romantically involved with one of them, and he knew they were indirect communication channels to Coop. Finally, he knew he needed an afraid person as a token to open the gate to the Black Lodge, so he picked Annie, as part of his revenge on Coop. Of course, this is not to say Earle doesn't get a perverse thrill out of dressing up and tricking people for its own sake. His entire body language whenever he's in a disguise always cracks me up for some reason in how much he's enjoying himself and his superiority. XD
Also, it's obvious you didn't read, "Dale B. Cooper: My Life, My Tapes". Most of what Coop knows about the mystical and the paranormal is self-taught on a 5-year journey all around the world between his high school graduation and when he joined the CIA. After a few years, Coop got bored at the CIA and transferred to the FBI instead, where he ended up with the Blue Rose group under Gordon Cole. So, Coop had been active in secret services, law enforcement, and mysticism for quite some time before ever meeting Earle.
He may not have been the most imposing villain, but he was a good emotional foil for Cooper
not sure what your problem was with Earle,he was a great character.he worked on blue book and was after the secrets of the lodge for his own gain.the idea that hes right under dales nose and yet hidden and that he toys with the unsuspecting people of twin peaks is great.
Windon Earle is a character based on Aleister Crowley, the infamous occultist, which was a brilliant chess player, had strong sociopathic and sadistic traits, and which was involved in a power struggle during his time at the Hermetic lodge of Golden Down, a group which he eventually gained control over. He was also an agent for the British government. He also had his scarlet women.
Crowley was a genius.
@@enterbalak Wasn't he in the movie Rosemary's Baby? I wouldn't say he's a genius looking at all he did and said, but the guy did know a thing or two about magic and also getting people to blindly follow him through drugs just like Charles Manson did. They used lds in huge amounts at their parties or magic orgies (sex to them is considered a form of magic, it's what made Judy appear in the box when Sam and the pretty girl were getting it on) so more often than not, regular people whose egos were destroyed in the process of abusing psychedelics (vs using them) became the next group of "followers". Especially if you have a "handler" during your trip to fully brainwash you vs letting you just enjoy the experience and come back down to your "normal self". He made sure when you came down that you were ANYTHING but your former self. Some never recovered from the CIA inspired brainwashing. Genius? No. Conman? Yes. 100 percent. What megalomaniac _doesn't_ want to be a leader of sheeple willing to do anything you say?
A genius only in the way of deception. I'll give you that much.
I must say that this as been a very thoughtful and well expressed character analysis...And also had the same thoughts as you regarding trying to create other characters who could surpass them of the Black Lodge.Once youve created that kind of mythology you cant top it you can only go backwards.Anyway well done and looking forward to more of your character Breakdowns!
Thanks!
rational genius and mad emotion. I like your words re this character.
Thanks!
I disagree with the idea of my man Earl being a man of unremarkable physique and having goofy disguises. The disguises highlight his lunacy as they are humorous to the audience, but it shows Earl’s humour as he is pushing the limit of the disguises. The show can obviously do better as seen with Catherine’s disguise. Earl’s disguises can be seen as a way to mock those around him as they are obvious to those who know the context. We see this when Earl leaves an elevator Cooper was in as he snickers to himself. This can be seen as “oh I knew my stupid disguise would fool Cooper hehe.” It also showcases his intellect as he would need a lot of confidence to use these disguises which could ruin his plan of going to the Black Lodge.
I don't know if Earle discarded the chess game, he went after Cooper's love and called her Cooper's Queen, then ultimately had him trapped.
I like how you picked the one scary image of Windom Earle -- the white makeup with black lips that implies he might be possessed, to accompany your point about how he's not very threatening.
Not possessed but messing with and harnessing Black Lodge energies.
I think Windom Earle's intention was to lure Garland Briggs to the black lodge to take possession of Briggs' abilities. He hoped and probably did not think Cooper would get there.
I don't know about that. He had Briggs captive, even after he figured out the lodge's location. He could've just taken Briggs there if he wanted but it's obvious he had a vendetta against Cooper and wanted him there. He wouldn't have gone through the trouble of kidnapping Annie if he didn't want Cooper to pursue him.
@@chrisdrugs249 But he needed to go there at the right point of time and he needed Annies fear to open the gate. So he could not just take Briggs there at any point of time. Besides, when Annie says "he will come for me" I think Earle was honest when he replied "No, he wont".
@@Modeeus Hmm interesting but you have to remember that at the time he kidnapped Annie, he didn't know Cooper would know the location of the lodge, hence why he told her "No he won't." It wasn't until Andy figured out the map and told Cooper that he was able to pursue.
It's true he needed her fear to open the lodge but I don't see what he was hoping to gain from Briggs other than the information he extracted from him. I don't know what abilities you are referring to. Briggs just seemed like someone with a lot of knowledge and wisdom, maybe even foresight but not any abilities I can think of, unless I missed something.
@@chrisdrugs249 You should read the books: "The Secret History of Twin Peaks" and "Twin Peaks: The Final Dossier". Major Briggs is a strong psychic, but it never turned him evil or insane like Windom Earle. It's just that he can sense or receive things others cannot. It's why Major Briggs was part of Project Blue Book (for which he received an intense training by the military in order to optimize his psychic abilities) and is continuing research for the military at his outpost on top of one of the two Twin Peaks mountains.
@@tlatosmd thank you for the suggestions and insight I definitely will have to read those
Much better character and more intimidating than that Hannibal Lecter twerp from Silencio of the Clams.
You should rewatch that movie. Would've been cool to see a showdown of intellect between Earle and Lecter.
Earle is not like Bob, he's more like a puppet villain. What makes Earle creepy is his twisted mind, intelect and goal. I didn't really like the character at first but he grew on me over time.
I could see Earle as a host for BOB
Will never undestand why Windom Earle isn't in the new season.
InteUtanMinCykel I reckon he'd just be burning in hell if he had a cameo. Bob got that ass
I was always intrigued by the idea of someone stealing or using the power of the lodge for their own purposes. Maybe someone else is going to do that in the new series.
InteUtanMinCykel I think Earle will be in the new season,I think he already has.
Was he? I didn't notice him if he was there. But Jacques Renault's actor was in the background for a couple seconds and I almost missed him.
Michael Snow No what I'm saying is I think that's who Mr C was speaking with in the hotel after he killed Darya. I also think he's behind the NYC Project.
I didn't like Earle at first. just didn't find him convincing. but at a certain point (probably around the time he dressed up like a horse to kidnap briggs), I came to appreciate just how camp and hammy he is. he's sort of Shakespearean. pretty clumsily brought in to the show, tho. not a fan of the second half of season 2 overall, but they definitely stuck the landing with the last episode or two
earl was a plaything of the lodge especially Bob.
Earle, who thought of himself as the ultimate manipulator of others was really just a puppet (literally in the last episode) to even greater evil.
Well, Windom Earle despite his genius is still insane. The Spirits of the Black Lodge are Evil, not mad, not twisted, just evil for the sake of evil, like Windom says.
I don't think they would appreciate such a man daring to lay claim to their power, not to mention they take pleasure in destroying people's mind, and there's no challenge in corrupting Windom, whose sanity is already compromised.
@@peterjanssen5901 Right. Which is why Bob decided to just devour Earle's soul and be done with him.
I m much more afraid for Earle then bob
I first watched Twin Peaks when it came out. Now for the shock part: I was just 5 years old at the time. Thanks, mom 😂 At that age I did not understand very much what I was seeing, but 2 images stuck with me and provided numerous nightmares for the following couple of years: Maddie's vision of Bob coming over the couch at Donna's house and Windom Earle's image with black teeth hovering over Leo. Badalamenti's amazing score added to that effect. I have watched the show countless times in my adult years and it is a masterpiece. From Pete's fish in the perculator, to Andy's funny crying, to Albert's love for sheriff Truman, to Nadine's silent drapes. From Major Briggs's vision about Bobby, to Leland's singing and from Audrey's dance to Leo's sick and abusing love for Shelly. I love everything about this show. Both Windom Earle and Bob terrified me for different reasons and in different ways. One is the evil psyhotic genius, the other a demonic entity bend on violence and terror. I am one of those who loves the show as a whole and loved the Windom Earle storyline. Both Bob and Earle terrify me because in the end they both represent what Albert said: "The evil that men do".
I was so mad when he bugged the sheriff's office. RIP Mr. Welsh 💙
Windom Earle was terrifying.
15:46 Misspoken. "BOB" Freudian slip?
twin peaks is heavily influenced by the religion of thelema and also astrology and planetary magick...
Lynch has denied the thelema thing.
@@marc80s But Frost heavily included it in the books.
@@tlatosmd Frost and Lynch aren't always in sync when it comes to TP
@@marc80s Still, you can see a lot of it in the TV series and FWWM. Considering his direction style (how he instructs his actors), his quote on how he's "not always in sync" basically means something akin to, "I don't care how those scripts come about or what they mean, I'm just here to make the plot from the script look pretty and interesting. I don't care what it's supposed to mean or stand for."
Which is more scary: a venomous snake, or an evil man who uses the poison of such snake to murder? BOB is the snake, Earle is the man.
The thing is though is that the snake bit the man before he could use it.
Earle got Bobbed.
what's General Hammond doing there ?
Sorry to spoil Everything, but Earl is the precursor to mister c, I understand everything about Twin Peaks, and I will gladly explain it to everyone just ask
I think the second half of the second season was supposed to be campy, over the top and hylarious, that’s why they probably chose that actor to portray Windom Earle.
if the Master could ever be American, he would be played by Kenneth Welsh
I always thought someone like David Warner or Michael Parks (both a little wasted on the show) would have been good as Earle. No disrespect to Kenneth Welsh, I like him as an actor and have enjoyed his performances in many films, but after the build up I would have expected someone with a bit more screen presence. Welsh would have been better in something like the Eckhardt role.
Bob is a boy scout compared to Mr C imo. And Earle, as formidable as he was, is a wannabe Bob. The real Cooper has Dougie as his co-pilot. But Mr C is almost as evil as Judy.
I think Windom Earle is one of the greatest human villains (in contrast to BOB, the more primeval, non-human evil force) in movie and TV history. I think he really didn't get the run he deserved by only showing up in a few TP episodes. Even the creators of the show thought that before Lynch's return, Earle originated as part of the filler episodes while Lynch had temporarily stepped away from the show (before wrapping it up towards the end of season 2), and they still regret never having given him lines as great as the character itself was, and not enough of an epic narrative arc.
Of course, he was brilliantly cast with Welsh, who was perfect as this mix of threatening, creepy, scary, *AND* demented. He and the writers made Earle both a scary villain and with some hilariously demented, campish kinks to him. While I'd always compared him to Sherlock Holmes's nemesis Moriarty, my GF rightfully said he's almost like a Batman villain from the Adam West show. Welsh is dead, unfortunately, but if they'll ever bring back Windom Earle for anything like a prequel (like, a dramatization of Coop's early time in the Blue Rose group as in the book "Dale B.Cooper: My Life, My Tapes") or any other spin-off of the franchise, I feel he should be portrayed by Jason Clarke.
As we saw in the Return, Earle wasn't discarded at all. He was with BOB and doppelcoop throughout the season.
He is basically the joker
08:30
Yeah unfortunately Earle was a garbage tier villain.. episode 22 was the only episode worth watching after Leland's death that involved Earle tbh.